What to take The following gear is essential, no matter how warm it is when you leave. Remember to put everything in your pack inside a North West plastic pack liner, especially your sleeping bag and clothes. • At least two complete sets of clothing – one set to walk and in and another to change into at the hut if necessary (it Southern is not possible to dry clothes at the huts). Note: Cotton clothing like jeans, T-shirts and sweatshirts is not Circuit tracks suitable; polypropylene, which is quick drying (but can be flammable), is recommended. Rakiura National Park • Boots – comfortable and broken in • Mittens/gloves – wool or polypropylene • Woollen hat/balaclava and sunhat • Raincoat – waterproof and windproof, with hood • Overtrousers – waterproof and windproof • Gaiters (optional but recommended) • Extra socks, underwear, shirt/lightweight jersey (depending on length of trip) • Food – lightweight and high in energy value; take all you need for the entire trip – once you leave Halfmoon Bay there Doughboy Bay. Photo: Gary Cocker is nowhere to buy more • Sleeping bag – good quality down or hollofil • Portable stove and fuel • Cooking, drinking and eating utensils, pot scrub and tea towel • Drink bottle Further information • Matches/lighter, in waterproof For further information contact: Check, Clean, Dry container Rakiura National Park Visitor Centre PO Box 3, Stewart Island/Rakiura Stop the spread of • Candles and torch – include didymo and other spare batteries and bulb Phone (03) 219 0009 freshwater pests. • Toiletries – including toilet paper Email: [email protected] Remember to • First aid kit – including insect Cover: Waituna Bay. Photo: Gary Cocker Check, Clean, Dry repellent and sunscreen all items before • Topographical map and compass Published by: entering, and when or GPS – note that thick forest Department of Conservation moving between, Rakiura National Park Visitor Centre cover can interfere with GPS Stewart Island/Rakiura waterways. signal Mud can be thick and knee- February 2017 • Survival kit – include survival deep. blanket, whistle, paper and pencil, Editing and design: spare food Publishing Team, DOC National Office R106332 • Personal locator beacon and/or mountain radio (optional but strongly recommended) Looking over The Gutter, Mason Bay Introduction Separated from the by Foveaux The island’s weather Strait, Stewart Island/Rakiura is New Zealand’s is unpredictable, with rain falling on about third largest island and southernmost national 275 days of the year. park. Strong westerly winds There are regular air flights from Invercargill and are frequent. a ferry service from Bluff. Boat, shuttle or plane transport options may be available to the start of the tracks. The island’s only settlement, in Halfmoon Bay, has a general store, postal agency, Rakiura National Park Visitor Centre and a range of accommodation options. There is one ATM on the island, which is only accessible during shop hours and does not accept foreign credit cards. Many places accept Eftpos, Visa and MasterCard. The North West Circuit and Southern Circuit tracks provide for challenging tramping around the island’s northern coast.

Huts and Hut Tickets Plan and prepare Your safety is your responsibility All backcountry huts on the North West Circuit Track require Before you go, know the Outdoor Safety Code – 5 simple Backcountry Hut Tickets or an Annual Backcountry Hut Pass. Stewart Island’s weather is extremely changeable rules to help you stay safe: Trampers planning on staying at any of the Great Walk huts and difficult to predict. Strong winds, hail and heavy 1. Plan your trip properly – Ensure your group has and campsites while walking the North West Circuit Track ! rain can occur at any time of the year. Earthquakes must make a booking prior to departure. You can complete and associated tsunamis are a possibility. Obtain an up- someone with backcountry experience, knowledge of bush craft and survival skills these online at www.doc.govt.nz or book at the Rakiura to-date weather forecast before starting the track and be National Park Visitor Centre in Halfmoon Bay, Stewart Island. well equipped for extreme weather conditions. Remember, 2. Tell someone – Leave your trip details with a trusted Once a booking has been received you will be sent an email exposure and hypothermia can affect anyone and can kill. contact and at www.adventuresmart.org.nz; sign the confirmation and you can print an electronic confirmation Track surfaces are varied and involve long sections of mud hut books; and at the end of your tramp inform your letter. You will need to visit the Rakiura National Park Visitor that can be knee-deep and thick, regardless of the season. contact of your safe return Centre to collect your tickets before starting the track. Anyone Some sections of track are prone to flooding. Keep to the 3. Check the weather – Including the latest information on arriving at a Great Walk hut on a date other than the one they tracks as valleys are steep and the bush is dense. Beach access hazards and facilities before you start booked may still use the hut and facilities, but bunk space is can be difficult when tides are high and seas are rough – if 4. Know your limits – Physical fitness and good equipment not guaranteed if the hut is already fully booked. necessary, wait for low tide. make all the difference Huts are supplied with mattresses, a wood burning stove Radios are not provided in any of the huts. Cell phone 5. Take sufficient supplies – Carry a sleeping bag, cooking for heating, running water and toilets. Cookers and cooking coverage is very limited and should not be relied on. Taking utensils, sufficient food, raincoat, overtrousers, gloves, utensils are not supplied – it is essential to carry your own a personal locator beacon and/or mountain radio is strongly hat, and dry clothes portable stove, fuel and utensils. Please leave all huts and recommended. Hunters may also be on Stewart Island/ Keep to the track – if you get lost then find shelter, stay campsites clean and tidy, replace firewood, and pack out (take Rakiura at any time of the year – please be aware of their calm and try to assist searchers. away) any rubbish. All trampers should tell a trusted contact presence. their plans prior to departure. If this is not feasible register your plans at www.adventuresmart.org.nz. North West Circuit Track Hut Yankee River Hut Allow 9–11 days to walk the full 125 km circuit. N Long Harry Hut Campsite (12 bunks) (16 bunks) TRACK GRADES Smoky Rakiura National Park This track is suitable for fit, well equipped Beach Visitor Centre and experienced trampers. Track times are an Great Walk/Easy indication only and extra time should be allowed tramping track – in adverse conditions. well formed track for East Ruggedy Hut comfortable overnight (12 bunks) Mt Anglem/Hananui N Christmas Village Hut Halfmoon Bay to Port William Hut Codfish Island/ O tramping/hiking R T (12 bunks) Whenua Hou H

4 hr, 12 km Tramping track – W E Garden Point S Follow the road to Horseshoe Bay, then on to Lee backcountry skills and T

C Murray Beach Bay, the official entrance to Rakiura National Park. experience required IR C Waituna Bay U From here the well defined track follows the coast IT Bungaree Hut

Route – navigation and T R (16 bunks) to Little River and Maori Beach, a former sawmill A C high level backcountry K settlement. There is a Great Walk campsite at Maori skills and experience Big Hellfire Beach Port William Hut (24 bunks) Beach. A tidal stream is spanned by a bridge at the required Big Hellfire Hut (12 bunks) Port William/Potirepo north end of the beach, after which the track climbs Lee a low hill, passing the turn-off to Rocky Bay Freshwater Hut Mountain RAKIURA TRACK e Bay North Arm. Port William Hut (24 bunks, Great Walk sesho (16 bunks) Hor hut and campsite) is on the prominent headland to Little Hellfire Beach North North Arm Hut n Bay (24 bunks) Oban fmoo the north. Hal Freshwater River Arm Port William Hut to Bungaree Hut Prices Inlet Native I 3–4 hr, 6 km Mason Bay Freds Camp Hut Paterson Inlet/Whaka a Te Wera The track traverses forested hill country before (10 bunks) Mason Bay Hut rm Ulva Island t A es briefly dropping down to the coast. Cross the (20 bunks) W Mt Rakeahua th u o headland to reach Big Bungaree Beach, which has a S hut (16 bunks) at the northern end. r Ernest Islands utte G er e iv h R Big Glory Bay T ua ah ke Bungaree Hut to Christmas Village Hut Ra K AC Rakeahua Hut TR 6 hr, 11.5 km IT CU (6 bunks) IR C Passing inland from Gull Rock Point, the track N ER TH descends to Murray Beach and crosses Murray U SO River upstream of the northwest end of the beach. Doughboy Bay Hut It then follows an old tramline before entering (8 bunks) 0 5 10 km virgin forest. The track continues through forest Doughboy Bay Cave before reaching Christmas Village Hut (12 bunks). Map base by Geographx

Side trip: Christmas Village Hut to Mount Christmas Village Hut to Yankee River Hut Yankee River Hut to Long Harry Hut Anglem/Hananui 6 hr, 12 km 4–5 hr, 8.5 km 6 hr, 11 km (return) From the Mount Anglem Track junction the track passes Cross the swing bridge over Yankee River, then the track rises The track to Mount Anglem/Hananui, Stewart Island’s through low, undulating bush country to Lucky Beach where tall steeply over Black Rock Point before descending to Smoky highest point, is a short distance along the track to Yankee rimu trees are prominent. From the west end of Lucky Beach the Beach with its distinctive sand hills. A swing bridge spans River. The track is marked and leads through forest, track climbs steeply through dense areas of fern. Care is needed Smoky River, inland from the western end of the beach, but mānuka, leatherwood scrub and subalpine meadow to the to locate the track where it enters heavy forest. The track then unless the river is in flood or it is extreme high tide you can } 980 m summit. Note: This track can be very muddy. follows undulating country to Yankee River where the hut (16 easily wade where the river meets the beach. The track then bunks) is sited. follows broken and forested terrain, drops down onto the coast and then up to Long Harry Hut (12 bunks). 16-bunk Freshwater Hut. Note: This track is often flooded during down the swampy Freshwater valley to Tolson River – this area Long Harry Hut to East Ruggedy Hut periods of heavy rain. is prone to flooding. After crossing the river by swing bridge the 6 hr, 9.5 km track enters the forest, traversing undulating country to Freds From the hut follow the coastal terrace to Cave Point ridge, then Side trip: Rocky Mountain Track Camp Hut (10 bunks). along the ridge before descending to the rocky coastline. The 3 hr, 5 km (return) coast is followed for 30 min before the track re-enters the scrub Freds Camp Hut to Rakeahua Hut A climb from behind the Freshwater Hut, through forest and at a signpost. It then climbs fairly steeply to reach a lookout over 5 hr, 12 km East Ruggedy Beach. The track descends through scrub to a subalpine scrubland to rock outcrops, gives panoramic views } over the Freshwater Flats and Paterson inlet. The track follows close to the shore of Paterson Inlet’s South river crossing, where the sand can be very soft. From here to East Ruggedy Hut (12 bunks) is a further 15 min inland, marked by West Arm and then the banks of the Rakeahua River. Rakeahua poles through the sand dunes. Freshwater Hut to North Arm Hut Hut (6 bunks) is about 3 km upstream from the mouth. Note: After heavy rain the area near Rakeahua Hut is prone to flooding. 6–7 hr, 11 km East Ruggedy Hut to Big Hellfire Hut This section of track is steep and often slippery. It crosses over Side trip: Mount Rakeahua 7 hr, 14 km Thompson Ridge to the North Arm of Paterson Inlet. North 5 hr, 9 km (return) The track drops down to West Ruggedy and follows the beach. Arm Hut has 24 bunks (this is a Great Walk hut and campsite). At extreme high tide you may need to take the high tide detour Note: During periods of heavy rain, some creeks on this track may The track climbs through forest and subalpine scrubland to a up and over a steep rocky outcrop halfway down the beach. The become impassable. rocky summit with great views. The track is marked by poles above} the bush line. track re-enters the bush at the southern end of the beach, then crosses around to the eastern side of the Ruggedy Range. It then North Arm Hut to Halfmoon Bay descends to Waituna Bay. From here it is a steady climb up to 5 hr, 12 km Rakeahua Hut to Doughboy Bay Hut Hellfire Pass, with a 12-bunk hut. The track traverses above North Arm to Sawdust Bay. From the 8 hr, 16 km former sawmill site the track cuts across a low headland to reach The track climbs gradually up the Rakeahua valley – after heavy Big Hellfire Hut to Mason Bay Hut Kidney Fern Arm in Prices Inlet, and continues through forest rain the early part of this track becomes waist deep in water. The 7 hr, 15 km for another hour before emerging at Kaipipi Bay. From there it track continues through forest, semi-open scrubland and bog From Hellfire Pass the track follows the main ridge before follows the former Kaipipi Road to Halfmoon Bay. fields, then steeply descends into Doughboy Bay. An 8-bunk hut is at the north end of the beach. descending to Little Hellfire beach. At the south end of the beach Southern Circuit is a signpost for Mason Bay. The track travels inland over a bush saddle and finally descends near the north end of Mason Bay. The Southern Circuit Track can be added to the North Doughboy Bay Hut to Mason Bay Hut West Circuit. Alternatively, you can get a boat through At extreme high tide this section can be impassable – there is 7 hr, 18 km a high tide route marked through the sand dunes. Follow the Paterson Inlet to start at Freshwater or Freds Camp Hut. The Southern Circuit is a remote, challenging tramping The track climbs steeply up Adams Hill and across the swampy beach approximately 4 km to Duck Creek. Flag markers on a summit before descending through forest to Cavalier Creek on experience and requires a high level of fitness, good route pole mark the track turn-off to Mason Bay Hut (20 bunks). Mason Bay. Walk north along the beach to Duck Creek. The finding skills, and backcountry experience. track to Mason Bay Hut (20 bunks) is marked by buoys attached Mason Bay Hut to Freshwater Hut to a pole. 3–4 hr, 15.5 km Freshwater Landing Hut to Freds Camp Hut Follow the track to the Island Hill homestead and then over 5 hr, 10 km flat tussock and mānuka country to Freshwater River and the The track starts directly opposite Freshwater Hut and travels North West Circuit Track